﻿How to Find the Lid on a Septic tank﻿

﻿ Contributor landscaped yards often hide septic tank lids. Septic tanks and access-hole lids, often covered with soil and forgotten, may require extensive investigation to locate. Many homeowners bury septic tank lids upon landscaping the yard. Septic tank inspection pipes, often cut below the surface for ease of lawn mowing, may also be hard to find. Septic tank lids need to be found when tanks are pumped or repaired. Although obvious signs have been removed, through the use of cues or technology, septic tank access-hole lids can be found again.

First thing first: Go to or call your local EPA office. Most likely they have the diagram of the system on hand to make it easier for you to find the tank. Some older systems they can't find but for the most part, they are hidden deep into their files. Once you get you hands on the paper work, follow the steps below:

Things You'll Need ﻿

Soil probe

Shovel

Metal detector

Instructions:

1. Locate the clean-out where the septic system piping exists the home. Follow any natural slope away from the house and look for a concrete or plastic septic tank lid. Often, septic system designers will follow the natural contours of the landscape when placing septic tanks.

3. Insert the tip of a probe or thin pipe into the soil where the tank is suspected to be and push all the way down carefully. If an obstruction is found, pull the probe out of the soil and insert it nearby to verify if a rock or tank has been found. If the probe is in the correct area, the tank should be found quickly.

4. Probe the outline of the septic tank with a probe or a small solid pipe and mark the outline with flags. Most septic tanks are constructed with one access hole in the center of the tank and / or two access holes evenly spaced across the top of the tank on the ends, front and back.

5. Walk the area with a metal detector on the side of the house where the plumbing exits. Rebar in the tank lid or metal handles cast into the concrete may be picked up by the metal detector. When the metal detector sounds, verify the lid's location by inserting the probe and feeling for the lid